An electric circuit comprises electrical components, which are interconnected. The electrical components are customarily arranged on a circuit board. The mutual connection of the components is achieved by means of conductor tracks on the surface of the circuit board, or within the circuit board. An electrical component is connected to the conductor tracks on the circuit board by means of its contact terminals, for example, by means of contact pins. The circuit board customarily incorporates contact holes, into which the contact terminals, for example, the contact pins, of the electrical component are inserted. Thereafter, the contact terminals are soldered into the contact holes provided for this purpose, such that the electrical component is connected to the conductor tracks on the circuit board, and is secured to the circuit board.
The population of a circuit board with electrical components is generally automated, for example, by means of a pick-and-place method. To this end, the electrical components are picked up by a gripper, and are automatically inserted, by means of their contact terminals or contact pins, into the contact holes in the circuit board. In order to facilitate the pick-up of a component by the pick-and-place machine, and to orientate the contact terminals of the component such that they can be inserted in the contact holes provided for this purpose on the circuit board, the component can be pre-fitted to a device for the orientation of its terminals, for the purposes of fitting to the circuit board. Customarily, a device of this type is also described as a grid plate. The grid plate incorporates holes in a specified grid pattern. For the attachment of the electrical component to the grid plate, the contact terminals of the electrical component are inserted into the holes in the grid plate, and are thus appropriately oriented for being fitted into the contact holes in the circuit board, without the necessity for bending the contact terminals.